Blood moon: Get ready for rare lunar eclipse tonight

The sky is going to offer a delightful treat for the adventure lovers as the Earth is going to engulf the moon into its shadow tonight. Tuesday (April 15) will witness this year’s first lunar eclipse.

The lunar eclipse or the blood moon may disappoint many sky gazers as this celestial treat is only for the North and South Americans.

According to the scientists, the total lunar eclipse will be visible across the Western Hemisphere. The Earth will begin to position itself between the sun and the moon at 12:53 a.m. ET and the celestial event will last for 78 minutes.

There will be four eclipses this year, two lunar and two solar, the scientists said. The phenomenon is known as a tetrad. In this phenomenon the moon is completely covered by the Earth’s umbral shadow for four eclipses in a row. The partial eclipses fall in the outer penumbra. The moon will glow red due to the refracted light that spills over the Earth’s circumference.

The moon will be rising in the western Pacific. Therefore, the region can only witness half of the eclipse. European and Africans may face disappointment as the moon has nothing to offer for them.

During the eclipse, the moon is covered by the Earth’s shadow. But it appears a bit colorful with some shade of red or orange. The colour of the moon during the eclipse is due to the light around the edges of the Earth.

The lunar eclipse is likely to pose threat to NASA spacecraft, LADEE, that has been probing the lunar surface. Scientists say this may result in the early dismissal of the mission. However, they are not in great worry as the mission approaches end.

On April 29, the Southern Hemisphere will be treated to a rare type of solar eclipse.